Fireproofing for safes and vault doors.



3 I J. E. DAVIS.

FIBEPROOPING FOR SAPES AND VAULT DOORS. APPLICATION rnn'n 210v. 4, 1909.

r 981,247, A v Patented Jan. 10, 1911.

W II 'M E had to the and JOHN E. DAVIS, 0F PORTLAND, OREGON,

PANY,-OF PORTLAND, OREGON,

ASSIG-NOR TO, DAVIS A GORPORATION ,OE

SAFE & LOCK colit- OREGON. 4

rmnrnoorrne son sA FEs AND vAU-LrnooRsf- To all whoma't may concern:

c it known that I, JOHN E. DAVIS, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Portland, in the county ofMultnomah and State of Oregon,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fireproofing for Safes andVault-Doors, of which the following is a specification, reference beingaccompanying drawings as constituting a part thereof.

y invention has for its object to obtain a fire-proof safe, thefire-proofing'of which is so made as not to have its etheiency destroyedby a fall of thesafe with the collapsing'of a burning building, exposedto extreme temperatures; in short to provide a fireproof filling forsafes which shall retain its effectiveness as long as the frame of thesafe holds together.

My invention is also applied doors, as apparent from the followingdescription.

In the drawings: Figure 1 shows a front elevation of a safe with thedoor thereof open, parts being in section; Fig. 2 is a top view of mysafe with the door opened a part-of the body of the safe being shown inhorizontal section; vertical section of a corner of the safe body,illustrating a difierent mode of'arrangement and construction of myfireproof filling; and Fig. 4- is a partial vertical section of a doorillustrating another mode in which my invention may be carriedsout.

In the construction of fireproof safes, hydraulic cement was generallyused as the fire-proofing material, but such filling, when exposed tointense heat, generates steam, which was formerly deemed a desirableproperty of the cement, but now is not so considered because the steamaffects the mechanical structure of the books contained in thesafes,-and frequently renders the books useless or renders themillegible. The steam emitted from such fire-proof filling 1s also knownto melt soft solder, and to so f badly tarnish jewelry as to render itpractically unfit for further use. A hydraulic cement filling is alsoaffected by climatic conditions which may cause expansion, to allow forwhich thedoor of the safe containing such filling cannot be fittedclosely"; but this, on the other hand, allows heat and water to enteraround the edges ofthe door, when the safe is exposed in a fire. The

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed November 4, 1909.

nor by being i c 'of the Fig. 3 is, a.

serial No. 526278.

I filling *invented by me to make the door practically absolutely:.t1ght, for my fireproof filling isnot in any I wise affected byclimatic conditions orheat. eferring now to the details of'constructionof my fire-proof filling ing, either of the dense or the porous. kind,embedded in amineral material capable of resisting high temperatures. Ipresilicate, or infusorial earth, which is a nonconductor of, andindestructible by, heat. The terra cotta tiling is selected from one ofthe kinds referred to, both being commonly used for building purposes,anc senting a foursided shell -like structure having a central cavitytiling, as shown in the drawlng, occupies the l l l. l l l l l i i andouter walls 0; 0 of the shell and frame of thesafe,

door.

The inner faces of the metal shell; 0, body of the safe may be lined bya I monolithic facing of cement mentioning cement, I mean ment, commonlyused in the building art, being introduced in' a plastic state and setor i hardenedinto a stone-like mass, asfusual.

It is enerally convenient to arrangethe' f) and separate such of'theembed tiling end to end (f, ends by an intermediate layer ding material9, which in Fig. l'is represented asbeing diatomaceous silicate. The Iair confined in a hollow space of the terra 1 cotta tiling would, aswell known, act as a heat-retarder, but I prefer to fill such hollowspace with the diatomaceous silicate, as shown by ie. The difierentkinds of material referred to arechosen and arranged by me, asdescribed, to promote the fire-rcsisting property of the filling of mysafe.

When the filling has been constructed as just above described, thefollowing beneficial results are obtained: The tiling, b

reason of being embedded in, and filled with,

I the pulverized silicate, though it be fractured or shattered by thefall of the safe with the collapsing of the floor on which it I stands,it will, nevertheless, be maintained in an effective state, for thecrevices caused by the fractures will become filled and closed up by thepulverized mineral material within the hollow of and surrounding thetiling.

me however i ermitsas illustrated in- F1g. 1: a represents hollow terracotta til,

:ter to use for such purpose diatomaceous l central part of the spacebetween the inner and is likewise arranged in the:

o, b; When hydraulic oe Patented senate, 191a. a

wine 1' or'air space. This: j

eral material, at, g, are omitted, and in place cement incasin gthehollow tiling j; but a The construction and arrangement of the i fillingfor the door of the safe is substani tially the same as that of thebody.

In the illustration of my improvement in Fig. 3, the followingdifferences are to be noted: The described interior cement fac- I ing,1), b, and embedding pulverized mini thereof the spaces between theshell of the safe body, and the outer faces of the tiling, also thespaces between the ends of the tiling, are filled with a solid ormonolithic form of cement. The filling, e, of pulverized mineralmaterial, within the hollow of the tiling, 0;, is retained, I y The modeof construction of my filling i illustrated in Fig. at is substantiallythe same 1 as that illustrated in Fig." 3; h representing the shell of adoor, 2' a monolithic mass of filling for the hollow la of the tiling isi omitted, and the cement wall, 1', is depended upon for holding thetiling in place, at the 3 time the safe is subjected to a fall". The disadvantage of a more or less monolithic liling is, that in case the fallof the safe should be so great as to shatter the cement wall portion,2', of the filling, it might leave a space in the fracture of thefilling, between the walls of the shell 11, through which the intenseheat could penetrate, and thus the fire-resistin r quality of thefilling would be deteriorated As a general rule, I would state that the.construction'o'f my filling illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 represent thebest mode. liesides the advantages men ioned, it also materially reducesthe weight of the filling,

and this, manifestly, is an item, because it sisting of a shell, hollowterra cotta tiling arranged centrally within the shell of the body,embedded in pulverized mineral material, and a filling of mineralmaterial in the hollow of the tiling.

Q. A fire proofing comprising a body con-, sisting of a shell, hollowterra cotta tiling arranged centrally within the shell of the body,embedded in pulverized mineral material, and a filling of diatomaceoussilicate in the hollow of the tilin A fire-proofing comprising a bodyconsisting oi; a shell, an inner racing thereon of 1 monolithic cement,hollow tcrra colta tiling arranged centrally within the shell of thebody,-einbe .lded in pul'verizcd n'iifneral material, said tiling be ngarranged end to end spaced apart, and the intermediate space also filledwith mineral material, and a, filling of pulverized mineral material inthe hollow of the tiling.

4. A lire-proofing comprising a body consisling 'if a shell, an innerfacing thereon of monolithic ccincnt, hollow terra cotta tiling arrangedcenlrall within the shell of the 1 body, en'ibedded. in mineralmaterial, said tiling being arranged end to end spaced apart, and theintermediate space also filled with mineral material, and a filling ofdiatomaccous silicate in the hollow of the tiling.

Witnesses {Audi R. DL'NIWAY.

CECIL Lone.

